The Legendary Ancient Dragon Species

Just as Qian Yuling decided to flee, Bone Mountain before her erupted with a tremendous disturbance.

The vitality and blood of those dozen or so Soul Beasts left their bodies and flew toward the summit of Bone Mountain. Before long, their bodies shriveled up and collapsed where they stood. An aura also locked onto Qian Yuling.

"This..." Qian Yuling was instantly dumbfounded, but there was no way for her to escape.

The bones on Bone Mountain began to fall away, as though something inside was about to emerge.

Soon, once all the bones had fallen away, a massive creature appeared before Qian Yuling. It looked at her and let out a roar.

This colossal creature had a skeletal structure of four legs and two wings. It was lean, with long limbs. There were no dragon horns on its head; instead, it bore a row of backward-curving spines. Its wings were large, but their membranes had little surface area, so compared to common winged dragon species, it was not an excellent flier. Miasma often coiled around its body. Unlike the ordinary yellow miasma commonly found in Miasma Valley, the miasma surrounding it was grayish-white, seemingly altered by its influence. It had stronger decomposing properties and no longer feared fire like ordinary miasma did.

"Four legs and two wings... Could it be the legendary Ancient Dragon Species?" Qian Yuling murmured. She had read a little about such creatures in the books of the Worship Hall.

Ancient Dragon Species were the pinnacle of the dragon clan's ecological niche, a collective term for Soul Beasts that possessed unparalleled vitality, longevity, and various unique abilities among all living creatures in this world. The very existence of an Ancient Dragon Species was an anomaly. Their ecology and forms were extraordinarily peculiar and unknown, and they could not be classified by biological standards. Yet they all shared one trait: "power that rivaled natural disasters." Some were even natural disasters and nature itself.

"It's over. I never expected Miasma Valley to contain a legendary Ancient Dragon Species." Qian Yuling had thought she could find a way out here, only to encounter an Ancient Dragon.

The colossal creature looked at Qian Yuling and asked curiously, "Human, why are you here?"

Qian Yuling gave a bitter smile and told the massive creature in detail how the Wind Drifter Dragon had brought her here. After she finished, Qian Yuling fell silent and waited for the creature's response.

"Wind Drifter Dragon? Kirin's little brother? Why did it bring you here?" the massive creature muttered to itself in confusion.

"Kirin?" Qian Yuling was surprised to hear the name. She had never seen it in the books of Spirit Hall either.

"That's right. Kirin is an Ancient Dragon like me. My name is Corpse Dragon, and I am the ruler of this Miasma Valley. Kirin is the ruler of Coral Plateau above. I can no longer remember how long I have slept here." The massive creature answered Qian Yuling's question.

"Senior Corpse Dragon, can you let me go back?" Seeing that Corpse Dragon had no intention of killing her, a sliver of hope rose in Qian Yuling's heart. She blinked her large eyes as she asked.

"Let you go back? How could I! I'm going to eat you!" Corpse Dragon roared at Qian Yuling, preparing to devour her.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning shot toward Corpse Dragon and struck its head.

"Who is it?" Corpse Dragon roared furiously.

A white figure slowly emerged.

"Kirin." After seeing the white figure clearly, Corpse Dragon immediately spoke its name.

That white figure was Kirin, an exceedingly rare Ancient Dragon Species monster and a legendary phantom beast. Its body resembled that of a horse, with a spiral horn growing from its head. It could freely manipulate ionized particles in the air with that horn, forming an invisible protective field around its body. Its horn was also said to ward off all illnesses and grant immortality. Its hopping, darting movements resembled those of a bell deer, though it was faster and more dangerous. Although Kirin was a type of Ancient Dragon, it was completely unlike ordinary Ancient Dragons. Rather than an Ancient Dragon Species, its appearance was more like that of a horse.

Kirin glanced at Corpse Dragon, pointed at Qian Yuling, and said, "Sense her aura."

Corpse Dragon was somewhat puzzled, but it did as Kirin said.

"What? The aura of the World Tree?" Corpse Dragon was utterly shocked.

"That's right. Now you know why I brought her here." Kirin's voice sounded again.

"I understand. So she is our hope." Corpse Dragon completely understood Kirin's intentions.

"Then hurry up." Kirin glared at Corpse Dragon.

"Fine, fine, fine." Corpse Dragon agreed.

Qian Yuling scratched her head, completely baffled. What hope? She was utterly lost.

Kirin also saw Qian Yuling's confusion and explained, "Child, I was the one who brought you here. You should have been on Coral Plateau by now, but that idiot Wind Drifter Dragon made a mistake, so I arranged for you to end up in this Miasma Valley."

"What! So it was you!" Qian Yuling shouted. It was this Kirin before her that had made her suffer so much here.

"Don't be like that. Bringing you here will benefit you as well," Kirin explained.

"What benefit is there? Oh, right, where is Mo Ying?"

"That boy? I already had the Wind Drifter Dragon send him back. You don't need to worry about him."

"Oh, oh." Hearing that Mo Ying was safe, Qian Yuling let out a sigh of relief.

"What is your name?" Corpse Dragon asked as it looked at Qian Yuling.

"Yu Ling. Uh, Qian Yuling." After some thought, Qian Yuling decided to reveal her real name.

"Qian Yuling, I am about to become your fourth soul ring," Corpse Dragon said slowly.

"What?!" Qian Yuling was somewhat dazed. This Ancient Dragon, whose aura far surpassed that of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Grievous Claw Dragon she had encountered before, actually said it would become her soul ring.

Kirin explained, "Once your strength reaches a certain level in the future, you will understand."

After looking at Qian Yuling with a complicated expression, Corpse Dragon said to Kirin, "Don't forget."

"I know." Kirin answered crisply.

"Wait!" Qian Yuling suddenly called out to Corpse Dragon.

"What is it?"

"Senior Corpse Dragon, you should also be a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, right? But I feel that you are far stronger than the Hundred-Thousand-Year Grievous Claw Dragon I encountered before." Qian Yuling voiced the doubt in her heart.

"Nonsense. That Grievous Claw Dragon? I could kill it just by releasing a trace of my aura. I am no Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast." Corpse Dragon was somewhat displeased at being compared to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

"Huh? Not a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Then what are you?" Qian Yuling's eyes widened.

Kirin smiled. "Not Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. We Ancient Dragon Species are all Million-Year Soul Beasts. As for why it will become your soul ring, you will learn that in the future."

"A... Million-Year Soul Beast?" Qian Yuling felt as though her mind could no longer process this.

"All right, let's begin. I've grown tired of staying in this place." Corpse Dragon sounded somewhat impatient.

"Then can I withstand your soul ring?" Qian Yuling asked the most important question.

"Of course you can," Corpse Dragon replied.

Kirin explained again, "Yu Ling, Corpse Dragon is sacrificing itself to you. And your body is extraordinary as well—you possess the aura of the World Tree, so you can fully withstand Corpse Dragon's power. However, you will not be able to absorb any Soul Bones. As for why, you will learn that in the future."

Qian Yuling nodded woodenly. Her mind was completely blank now.

"Then let's begin." Corpse Dragon's body began to fade, transforming into a stream of energy that enveloped Qian Yuling.